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Kevin had been expecting to be surprised by what he found in space. So the giant ants, couples sharing bodies and living slimes had all been a expected sort of unexpected. Of course, nothing that would help him get HOME. (Though at least he'd managed to keep Gretel safe on Earth... he hoped).
The regular human boy at the gas station was unexpected though, and Kevin did a double take. But there, standing outside, snacking on a bag of pistachios (clearly labeled in English), was beyond unexpected. The boy really didn't even look all that unremarkable for a human, his most remarkable physical feature being a rather notable cowlick. Wearing a magenta sweater-vest and laceless shoes wasn't exactly your typical middle school fashion sense. BUT there was a lot of weirdos out there and all things considered this kid looked about as average as you could get. It was incongruous to say the least, but somehow the kid looked perfectly satisfied.
Kevin glanced around the bustling place, hoping he wouldn't be spotted by the wrong people, and awkwardly walked up to the kid.
"Hey... uh... this might be a stupid question, but are you a human?" Kevin asked awkwardly. What else were you supposed to say to what appears to be a human when you thought for certain you were the only human in this part of the galaxy? What was more likely, that this was actually a human from earth, or just a species that happened to look a lot like a human. Or maybe it was an alien predator who captured its prey by looking as disarming as possible to its victims, and now Kevin was really hoping he wasn't an idiot going to die here from...
"Like, from Earth?" the kid asked.
"Yes! I'm from Earth, and I kinda got lost and I'm trying to find my way home,"
"Oh wow, I wasn't expecting to find another human out here!" he said brightly, seemingly unfazed by the unexpected turn of event.s
"Me neither," Kevin said.
"I'm Milo! MIlo Murphy! Nice to meet you," He said brightly, reaching his hand out towards Kevin.
"I'm Kevin, Kevin Grant-Gomez," Kevin introduced himself, returning the handshake.
"So, where on earth are you from?"
"Well, the tri-state area...."
"The tri-state area? Like Danville?"
"Yeah, that's a city near me?"
"That's where I'm from!"
"What are the odds?" Kevin said.
"Odds work weird around me," Milo shrugged, "Usually not for the better. But things usually work out," Kevin was confused by this but quickly shook it off. That wasn't important by now.
"So.... do you know how to get home,"
"I'm on my way home right now!" Milo said cheerfully, "I accidentally got left here, so I'm waiting for my ride to realize they lost me... they've probably already realized so barring any unforeseen consequences I bet they'll be here in the next 15 minutes."
"You think so?"
"Well, better not count on it, I'm foreseeing unforeseen consequences, but I'm sure they'll get here eventually." Milo said, "Want any pistachios?"
"Uh, sure." Kevin said, letting Milo pour some into his hand.
"So... why are you out here. In space?" Kevin asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him, in between pistachios.
"I was visiting a friend out here. Well not out here, on a planet. But you know what I mean."
"You have a friend on another planet?"
"Well when you get as abducted as often as me things happen," Milo shrugged
"....how often do you get abducted?" Kevin asked.
"To be honest it's only happened like.... a handful of times. And usually it doesn't go well for my abductors anyway. The one person just need my help saving her planet and it turns out me and her daughter have a lot in common and we're friends now so we're pen pals, and sometimes we meet up."
"Oh... that's really cool,"
"Yeah, Space Ships and Murphy's Law don't mix, nor does Orgaluth's Law and space ships.... but we make it work."
"Murphy's Law?" As if on cue, an alien sneezed, sending a purple fluid in their direction. Milo pulled an umbrella out of his bag, and swiftly moved it between them and the alien. Not a spec got on Kevin, though a little bit got on Milo's shoes.
"Sorry kid,"
"No worries!" Milo said waving him off, shaking the purple off his shoe. It left a stain but Milo paid it no mind, and turned back to Kevin, "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Around me. Or my dad. Or my uncle. Or my grandpa... or my cousin.... Orgaluth's Law is mostly the same, but you know. For Orgaluth."
"Huh. So is Orgaluth your alien friend?"
"What? Oh. Yeah."
"So.... is that why you're waiting out here?" Kevin asked.
"Pretty much," Milo said, "But if I hadn't been I wouldn't have found you. So it worked out."
"I guess so..." Kevin said thoughtfully.
"So what are you doing out here?" Milo asked, stuffing the empty pistachio bag into his backpack.
"Well, it's kind of a long story,"
"We have time," Milo said.
"It's... I'd rather not... I mean, well it's just..."
"Ah... secrets." Milo nodded sagely.
"Cool with that?" Kevin asked.
"Sure, everyone's got secrets." Milo said, "Not usually ones that lead people into space, but secrets."
"Oh there you are Milo!" A familiar voice spoke up.
"Oh! what is that!" Kevin screamed.
"Even in space," Cavenpuss groaned, "Really? Out of everything out here I freak you out."
"Sorry it's just you look um... exactly like the head of a human, that's what I am, man attached to the body of a platypus... do you..."
"That's because I am,"
"Oh... well... I suppose I've seen stranger come to think of it." Kevin said.
"And yet you still felt the need to shout." Cavenpuss scolded.
"Ha, yeah... my bad." Kevin apologized awkwardly.
"Anyway Cavenpuss, this is my new friend Kevin. He needs a ride home too,"
"Well, I suppose one more human teenager won't make any difference, let's get going,"
Just when he thought Space couldn't get any weirder. Or maybe that was just Earth.